This invention relates to a flashlight and video recorder device, and more particularly, to a flashlight and video recorder device for recording video images for storage and playback.
Flashlights are useful devices employed by various professions, such as police, firemen, military, and even maintenance workers. Even though flashlights have been proven to be useful devices there are some applications where flashlights combined with a device to record an image would make the flashlight even more useful. For example, a police officer while investigating a location at night may need to illuminate the location and record an incident for later playback and evidence. A fireman may be investigating a fire in the dark and being able to both illuminate the area being investigated and record the area would be helpful for later playback and use in documenting a fire. Further, a maintenance worker may need to go into a dark area to attempt a repair on some equipment. It would then be useful to have a device that can both illuminate a dark area and be able to record the area and the equipment. If the maintenance worker was unable to repair the equipment, the worker could then be able to show the recording to a more qualified technician for advice on how to repair the equipment. It would also be advantageous to record certain situations, such as accidents. If an accident occurred at night, it would be beneficial to record the accident scene and other information such as license plate numbers and insurance information.
Flashlights combined with cameras have previously been proposed. However, such devices require that the light from the flashlight be turned off during the time a picture is being taken in order to reduce wash out of the picture. Further, if the illumination bulb of the flashlight is left on during the taking of a picture or photograph the light reduces the quality of the picture due to wash out of the picture.
The present invention is designed to obviate and overcome many of the disadvantages and shortcomings associated with previously known flashlights combined with cameras. In particular, the present invention is a flashlight and video recorder device that eliminates wash out of a picture or a video recording. Moreover, the device of the present invention can be easily employed to illuminate an area and obtain a video recording of an area without any degradation of the quality of the video recording.